The naked body of Salvatore Casolino, 59, was lying in a pool of blood when officers from Patong Provincial Police Station entered the bathroom in his room at The Natural Resort near Patong Beach in Phuket.

“He was laying with his face down on the tiled floor,” investigator Pol Lt Col Somsak Tonggliang described the scene. “His skin was all white.”

After a preliminary autopsy by a medical examiner, police quickly found the reason for Casolino’s excessive blood loss:

“His throat was slashed, and he had several deep cuts on the wrist of his left arm, all in a vertical direction,”

Pol Lt Col Somsak said.

“He most committed suicide by bleeding to death.”

A single razor blade and a knife found in the bathroom confirm investigator’s suicide theory.

Judging from the body’s condition, the police medical examiner estimated that Mr Casolino had been dead for no less than 24 hours. Volunteers of the Kusontam Foundation wrapped the body in a white shroud and transported it to Patong Hospital for a thorough post-mortem examination.

According to the investigation, Mr Casolino had already been staying at The Natural Resort on Phangmuang Sai Kor Rd in Phuket’s Kathu district since April 6. He did not state any check-out date, an employee of the resort told the police.

Mr Casolino’s body was found in the evening by a maid who had entered the room to clean. “She knocked several times but did not get any answer, so she thought that nobody was inside,” Pol Lt Col Somsak

“She then used a master key and soon later found Mr Casolino’s body on the bathroom floor.”

The Italian Embassy is aware of Mr Casolino’s death and is assisting his family members in the repatriation of his body.